CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP)—Charlotte Bobcats starting shooting guard Raja Bell(notes) has a partially torn ligament in his left wrist and will soon decide whether to have surgery which would sideline him up to four months.

The severity of Bell’s injury, announced after he sat out Charlotte’s 94-87 exhibition win over Milwaukee on Tuesday, is a major blow for the Bobcats, who could be without their best defensive player and team leader.

Bell was injured when his wrist bent awkwardly as he tried to grab a loose ball in Sunday’s game against Utah.

“The way I understand it, surgery would be 6-8 (weeks) in a cast with pins and then 6-8 (weeks) worth of rehab,” Bell said.

Bad news... first Flip (who will hopefully be good to go for regular season), now Raja. I hope Henderson is ready for some minutes; we'll probably see Felton + DJ a lot more than expected if Raja is out for an extended period of time.